monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

This really is a must read

It's quite long but very well written (I suspect it's the condensed version of the first half of Micahel Doran's next book)

It does a great job of laying out all of the varied events and motivations that have gone into creating the story of the 2016 Presidential Election which historians will be studying, debating and writing about for many years to come. It's a story that has yet to reach its climax and one way or the other, it's going to end with a bang, not a whimper.

If you are of the mind that Clinton got away with figurative (and perhaps even literal) murder and that an elaborate and illegal effort has been underway to frame Trump for a crime that, more accurately, the Clinton Campaign is guilty of; for the purposes of overturning the results of a presidential election, then you will enjoy reading this. It will also help to clarify and place in context all that has been and is going on and what the roles of the very large cast of characters have been.

If you are of the mind that Clinton was guilty of nothing more than carelessness and that Trump most definitely colluded with Russia, has been a Manchurian Candidate for the Kremlin for more than seven years, and is Putin's puppet by virtue of a Kompromat file compiled and even engineered by today's version of the KGB, then you probably will not enjoy reading Doran's article (although if you refuse to acknowledge his talent, I'll chalk it up to sour grapes). However, it will provide you with an excellent account of the case Trump supporters have begun to make and will almost assuredly rev up in the months ahead. (It may also, to some extent, explain the case that the second Special Counsel will be making against Hillary Clinton, James Comey & his Dream Team, and perhaps even Barrack Obama) Consider it a source document for your term project to debunk every defense that has been or will be made by the Trump Camp. If you can knock it all down point by point, you should be able to sell the results to Salon or The New Yorker. (I'm sure we'd all like a preview here)

As you read it, do yourself and the truth a favor, dispense with silly notions of your favorite political figures being heroes and ask yourself if what Doran lays out is or is not feasible for a group of highly ambitious and self-focused individuals, embroiled in a struggle for the most powerful position on earth.

For example, think about the admitted fear of several of the FBI agents involved in investigating Clinton and the warning they issued to each other to keep in mind that she was likely to be the next president of the United States.

It's an interesting day. Trump dumped Tillerson, the man Putin ordered him to select over Mitt Romney for Secretary of State (at least according to a New Yorker writer). Can the Golden Shower video be far behind?

We're free people here in America. Need doesn't apply to the question of self defense weapons.



You might want to ask the proponents of magazine limits to stop undermining their own efforts with a crazed obsession over pistol grips.

I remind them too. But I'm somewhat insincere. If I thought they would stop sabotaging themselves, I wouldn't be telling them.

I think it's pretty funny that I can show them that they are sabotaging themselves and they will go ahead and keep sabotaging themselves anyway.

The pace of these disasters, one after another and often several a day, is frightening. There is a broad and continuing assault on norms from the president, obviously, but it's a phenomenon much wider (as we saw with McConnell's refusal to seat Obama's replacement for Scalia, for example). And that is matched by an intentional and equally broad attack on key American institutions. November will be a good hint as to whether the US is temporarily or permanently screwed.

Try to get your story straight, you despicable buggers
TPM

There is no element of this that surprises.
TP

There is no story besides the one made up to tell people to resist a lawfully elected president because of what they can't prove because it does not exist. Next.

Personally, I think it is not merely fine but exceptionally wonderful for democracy when the US State Department is in the hands of the Koch brothers.
TP

I don't have the knowledge or expertise to delve into the role of oil interests in this present Trump/Russia relationship. But I'm sure others have noticed the frequent mentions of Rosneft in relation to Meuller's investigation and indictments. But if we are to be advised by John Dewey's observation that "politics is the shadow cast by business" we probably ought to assume there's a damn good chance that oil money/interests are playing a larger role than might seem obvious presently.

Alex Jones is saying that the "poisoning" of Russian ex-spy and female companion was "obviously a false flag operation".

Ya think maybe Putin loves this guy all to pieces? Ya think maybe Putin's troll factory is pumping that one out to their targeted American demographics?

Yes, the Russian Cartel in action.

WP

This follows one week after Hope Hicks left the WH. So, here's two people very close to Trump (and who would know a LOT) who are no longer part of the WH staff. I'm not sure how these two disappearances might have legal consequences re Meuller's investigation so if you guys see anything good written on this, I'd love it if you'd post it here.

I bet this Alex Jones person makes good money from advertisers due to all the liberals who listen to his show breathlessly looking for something that they disagree with.

More power to him. Figuring out a way of using liberals to generate money is the sort of thing that ought to be encouraged in this country.

Penn election results tonight. Scheduled school walkout tomorrow.

Also tomorrow, I am expecting Trump to tweet or to state in a surprise WH briefing that he has "always been true to my wife Melania and have never cheated on her. No one alive tops me in the sanctity of marriage thing. It has been remarked by many in the fake news that loyalty is very important to me. It is. Very, very, very. And I demand the same of myself in holy matrimony. "

Three people very close, don't forget heavy man - Rob Porter.

the initial results in Pennsylvania are interesting

nerd heaven